Raw Inspiration

This is probably what initially inspired me to start this blog on food.

Last Tuesday, I went to this event that, before I left, I was debating whether or not to go. Li was going to it and invited me, and initially I wasn't going to. And then, I thought, why not? I jumped into my shoes, hopped out the door and ran after Li.

I'm so glad I decided to go. The event took place at this Raw Vegan cafe on Commerical Drive (in Vancouver) called Eternal Abundance....which, for those of you who live in Victoria, is very similar to Cafe Bliss....except a lot bigger.

Anyway, the event was a film screening of the film "Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days". I cannot describe adequately enough how inspiring this film is. If you have any chance to watch it, do. The film is a documentary about six people, all with either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, who came from all over the U.S to a retreat in Arizona. At the retreat, they ate completely raw food for 30 days. The film shows their struggles and triumphs through the 30 days and everyone who came through the program had successfully reversed their diabetes, went off their medication and doses of insulin.

What is raw food, you might ask? Good question. When you first hear the term, it sounds like a diet of a plate of raw carrots for dinner and an apple for dessert. Wrong. It's a very complex, intricate and beautiful movement that encompasses a wide range of recipes, from soup to lasagna to cacao truffles. Basically, nothing is cooked, or if it is, it is never cooked over a certain temperature. The idea behind it is that after food is cooked at a certain temperature, it loses the majority, if not all, of its essential nutrients. The movement is also known as a "living diet" because the food is still ALIVE. The essential nutrients haven't been lost. It takes a lot of knowledge, time and preparation to eat a raw diet. In the film, they had chefs cooking for the participants for the 30 days, but they would also teach the participants how to make a lot of the meals, and how to incorporate raw meals into a non-raw diet. The idea is not necessarily that you have to eat raw all the time, but that including more raw foods in your diet is a good idea.

This film is an astonishing reminder of two huge things for me. 1) The food that we eat DOES make a huge difference. Enough said. It's something we hear about all the time, but this film really shows that the food choices we make have monumental impacts on our health. It ALSO affects our well being. Many of the participants in the retreat described that they felt very connected to their bodies, they felt more alive, and their thoughts were clearer. I know if I've had a meal full of fresh, raw vegetables, I feel the same way. Alive, and, as someone described it in the talkback after the film, "in the flow" of our bodies.

2) As a culture, we really need to look at our medical system and our current conventional ways of dealing with health problems. It makes sense. If you're putting junk into your body, no matter how many dozens of pills you're taking on top of it, your health is going to suffer. Drugs will not solve diabetes. Your diet will. It's that simple, really.

The film taught me about willpower and prioritizing. Yes, you do need a certain amount of willpower to eat the things your bodies needs, and not what it craves. It isn't easy. If you're used to eating McDonald's and KFC all the time, you're going to want that. Obviously you won't want what your body actually wants and needs. This says a lot about how out of touch we are with our bodies, and with our relationship to food.

Relationship to food, for many of us, is an abusive one. We say things are 'bad' for us, and we don't even really want to eat it, but we do anyway. In a book I read once called "If the Buddha Came to Dinner", one of the questions recommended to ask yourself whenever you feel the desire to eat (besides the feeling of "I'm hungry, I need to eat!") is, "who are you feeding?" This question is revelatory. We eat for so many reasons other than hunger. Why do you think we have the phrase 'comfort food'? And is the food that you're eating really what your body wants, or what your mind wants? Are you feeding your body, or your lack of self-esteem? Your lack of a job? Your failed marriage? etc...

I think it is important to be kind to yourself when dealing with food, and unless you are in a severe health crisis, like the people in this film, it is important to take baby steps. Rome was not built in a day. But in some ways, we have to prioritize our thoughts. Are we going to eat that piece of pizza or that Tim Horton's doughnut that tastes so damn good? If you eat it, and feel good afterwards, then great. By all means, every once in a while, it's fine! But if you ask yourself the question "who are you feeding?" and, after you eat it, you feel guilty, sad, fat, tired, whatver.... then you know you've been abusive to your body. One of the things I've discovered about many things over the years, including with food, is that what you want in the moment is often not in touch with what you actually, genuinely want. Do I want to feel lazy and terrible about my body, or feel like I could run a marathon?

I decided, after watching this film, that I would stick to one change in my diet. Only one. Baby steps, right? On and off, I have been eliminating sugar from my diet. And I find that many things get in the way of me sticking to that choice: Cravings, obviously. Peer pressure. Feeling tired of explaining why. Not really knowing why I'm doing it in the first place. Not being 'rude' when something is offered to me. Again, who am I feeding, right?

So far, since the film, except for one family birthday dinner when I forgot to ask the waitress not to cut me a slice of cake, I have stuck to my choice. I am prioritizing. What's more important? How I feel about myself and my body? Or the 30 second craving for a chocolate bar?

So, the next time you reach for that thing that you're craving, ask yourself "who are you feeding?" If you still really want it, and you've decided you're going to have it, then eat it and enjoy it. Don't feel guilty about it after. Sometimes I think that we are killing ourselves not by what we are eating but how we are eating it. But if it's something you know your body doesn't want, is it worth the 2 minutes you're going to spend eating it?

Anyway, go see this film. It will inspire your socks off.

http://www.rawfor30days.com/index4.html

-Lisi